The Bryans Have Advice for the Federer Twins

MONTREAL  As the most accomplished identical twins to ever play as doubles partners in professional tennis, the Bryan brothers followed with special interest the birth of Roger Federer’s identical twin daughters.

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The Bryans have embraced their bond as siblings. We never really got the satisfaction from winning a singles match, Bob said.

They saw the message Andy Roddick posted on Twitter: “Wimbledon women’s champs in 2029-2040 the Federer girls.” They laughed when British bookmakers posted odds less than 48 hours after the births in late July  100-1 that either daughter would win Wimbledon and 200-1 that they would win the doubles crown.

The Bryan brothers have won Wimbledon, and every other Grand Slam title, while dominating doubles tennis. They have emphasized the win in twin the past five years. But their advice to Charlene Riva and Myla Rose Federer had nothing to do with the sport that made them famous.

“Embrace it,” Bob Bryan said he would tell the girls. “Twins should always stick together. It’s pretty special to have someone who shares your DNA.”

Federer laughed Sunday at the odds already given to his offspring and dismissed the notion that his daughters would clutch rackets while wearing diapers and matching monogrammed baby tennis outfits. He apparently does not plan to send them on the Tiger Woods route to golf superstardom; no training at age 2.

“I was quite amused when I heard so many people speculating,” Federer said. “It’s not really our goal right now to make them tennis machines.”

The Bryans laud this approach, mostly because their parents provided a similar upbringing. In a tennis landscape littered with overbearing fathers, mothers and coaches, Wayne and Kathy Bryan immersed their sons without forcing them on court.

Both parents played professionally, with Kathy once rising to No. 11 in the United States. Later, they ran a tennis club and took the boys to professional tournaments, letting them deduce the beauty in the game by watching players like Andre Agassi. They fostered teamwork with a simple rule: the twins could not play against each other in competition until age 17. They took turns forfeiting to each other until then.

“Any team that plays together every day of their lives from the time they’re 0 still loses nine months on those guys,” said Justin Gimelstob, a retired pro. “The synergy they have, the telepathy they have, that’s huge. They move as one.”

The Bryan brothers acknowledged the long odds for any twin partners, even for the offspring of tennis royalty. Like the Bryans, the Federer twins would need to love the game, play at the highest level and, perhaps most important, forge a singular identity.

The Bryans share everything  a home, a charitable foundation, a fan club, a rock band, even a bank account.

Major purchases, like the $15,000 muscle-stimulation device that Mike bought recently to help in recovery, are subject to twin approval.

Until age 6, the Bryans slept in the same bed and rarely spent more than a few minutes apart. Their parents sent them to speech therapy in first grade after they developed what Mike called an “alien twin language.” Sometimes, they still have to remind each other to keep in touch with other friends.

They once spent two excruciating weeks apart at 18, because Mike was injured and Bob had tournaments to play.

“That was tough,” Bob said. “We never really got the satisfaction from winning a singles match. That didn’t do it for us. It was more winning on the doubles court.”

At Stanford, the university placed the twins on opposite ends of campus, but they ended up in the same dormitory and the same fraternity (Sigma Alpha Epsilon). Even now, they share one Twitter account.

Bob is left-handed, an inch taller, 15 pounds heavier and 2 minutes older than the right-handed Mike. Their parents can have trouble telling them apart, especially on the phone, when they lose the benefit of one giveaway, the moles under Mike’s left ear.

The brothers dismissed the telepathy thesis, saying they only appeared that way  finishing each other’s sentences and rallies  because of thousands of hours spent together. That time would give Federer’s twins an advantage, they said, because sibling rivalry and sibling support and sibling fistfights made them better partners.

“We’re one complete player,” Mike joked. “One complete person.”

The Bryans have won five tournaments this season and continue as key players for the United States in Davis Cup competition. Each brother insists he plays better than the other, but neither one believes he plays better alone.

Although they said Federer’s daughters would benefit from built-in advantages, they said they would also face certain challenges.

“Everyone’s looking at these kids and saying: ‘You’ve got the genes. Now make it happen,’ ” Mike said. “There’s going to be extra pressure.”

And odds. The Federer twins’ chances of winning Wimbledon were set before they could walk.

The Bryan brothers said no one would have bet on them as infants. And, at least for now, they feel like their twin records are secure.